Page 35 of Thirst Trap

Her eyes glinted. “Oh, you can. Just ask nicely.”

He chuckled into his coffee. But then his tone changed.

“Has anyone ever hurt you? Like really hurt you?”

The question hung in the air. Maddison’s smile faltered.

She set the spatula down. Turned slightly, letting the hem of his shirt ride up her thigh. A long, pale scar curved across her skin.

“A few years ago,” she said quietly. “A coworker tried to grope me. I said no. I tried to run. He shoved me down the stairs.”

Lucas’s fingers tightened on his mug.

“I got fired,” Maddison added, voice almost casual. “Because apparently I ‘led him on.’”

She gave a small laugh, but there was no humor in it. “That’s the kind of luck I have. My mum thinks I’m crazy, anyway. Says I make up relationships in my head. Four years ago she had me put in a psych ward for a year after I… stalked a guy. Thought he was going to marry me. He wasn’t.”

Lucas blinked.

Maddison shrugged, like it was nothing. “I’ve got an older sister. Perfect, lawyer, golden child. My dad left before I was born. Mum blames me.”

She picked the spatula back up. “So yeah. That’s me. Red hair, tight skirts, family baggage, scarred leg, former mental patient. And somehow still here. Still making breakfast for the CEO of the year.”

Lucas stood slowly, walked around the counter, and pulled her in by the waist. His hand brushed the scar gently, reverently.

“I’m not just falling,” he said, voice rough. “I think I already have.”

Maddison smirked, though her chest ached. “Good. Then I won’t have to blackmail you anymore.”

He kissed her.

The eggs burned.

Chapter 18

The Fallout

Logan didn’t knock.

He never knocked.

He burst through the executive elevator doors, already halfway to boiling. His black shirt was half untucked, a healing bruise along his jaw from the deal last night, and his phone clenched tight in his fist.

Rumors.

Photos.

Flirting in the lobby.

This wasn’t just messy, it was Creamsdynasty destroying.

And then he saw her.

Maddison.

Strutting out of Lucas’s office with a file in one hand and a smugness that practically dripped down the walls. Red hair bouncing. Eyes too damn satisfied.

She smiled at Logan.